{#
 This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
 License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
 file, You can obtain one at https://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
#}

{% extends "foundation/base.html" %}

{% block page_title %}Feed Icon FAQ{% endblock %}

{% block article_header %}
    <h2>Feed Icon Guidelines</h2>
    <p>Frequently Asked Questions</p>
{% endblock %}

{% block article_content %}
  <p>
    {% with guide=url('foundation.feed-icon-guidelines.index') %}
    This FAQ attempts to answer a variety of questions that might
    be asked about the <a href="{{ guide }}">feed icon usage guidelines</a>.
    {% endwith %}
  </p>

  <h3>Feed icon basics</h3>

  <dl class="mzp-u-list-styled">
    <dt>What is the feed icon?</dt>
    <dd><p>{% with link='https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Live+Bookmarks' %}
    The feed icon was created originally for
    use with the <a href="{{ link }}">Live Bookmarks</a>
    feature of the Mozilla Firefox browser. In that context the
    presence of the icon in association with a displayed web page
    indicates that information contained in the page is also
    available in the form of a web feed using the RSS or Atom web
    syndication formats.{% endwith %}</p>

    <p>Mozilla Foundation subsequently proposed having the icon
    be used universally in connection with feed-enabled applications
    or online services, blogs, news sites, and in general any web
    site offering information via open web syndication
    formats.</p></dd>

    <dt>Where can I get versions of the feed icon?</dt>
    <dd><p>
    {% with icon14=static('img/trademarks/feed-icon-14x14.png'),
            icon28=static('img/trademarks/feed-icon-28x28.png'),
            feedicons="http://www.feedicons.com/"
    %}
    The <q>canonical</q> icon is available in a
    <a href="{{ icon14 }}" title="14 by 14-pixel canonical version of the feed icon">14x14-pixel version</a>
    and a
    <a href="{{ icon28 }}" title="28 by 28-pixel canonical version of the feed icon">28x28-pixel version</a>.
    You can also get high-resolution and variant versions through the
    <a href="{{ feedicons }}">feedicons.com web site</a>.
    {% endwith %}
    </p>
    </dd>

    <dt>Am I required to follow the proposed
    feed icon usage guidelines?</dt>

    <dd><p>No. The proposed usage guidelines are not
    legally binding in any way. However we hope that users of the
    icon will honor the guidelines in the spirit in which they were
    intended.</p></dd>

    <dt>What&#8217;s the role of the wider
    community in all of this?</dt>

    <dd><p>As noted above the proposed usage
    guidelines for the feed icon are not legally binding, and in
    general we don&#8217;t think that use of the icon should be
    regulated using trademark law and related mechanisms. Instead we
    propose relying on community oversight and enforcement of the
    guidelines using non-legal means.</p>

    <p>Community members are also invited to assist in determining
    the proper interpretation of the guidelines in particular
    situations, and evolving the guidelines and the icon itself to
    accomodate future uses not yet envisioned.</p></dd>
  </dl>

  <h3>Reasons and rationales</h3>

  <dl class="mzp-u-list-styled">
    <dt>Why publish any usage guidelines at all?</dt>
    <dd><p>
    {% with blog="https://blog.lizardwrangler.com/2006/06/08/what-do-icons-mean-part-1/" %}
    Because as <a href="{{ blog }}">we&#8217;ve previously discussed</a>,
    Mozilla Foundation felt it was important that the icon
    <q>mean something</q> to people, particularly to end users who
    are just getting acquainted with the whole concept of web
    syndication and might see the icon as a relatively reliable
    guide by which to discover web feeds and ways to manipulate
    them. Taking a totally laissez faire approach might cause those
    users&#8217; expectations to be completely violated, for example
    by frequently encountering information in web syndication
    formats that were proprietary and could not be processed by most
    feed-enabled applications.{% endwith %}</p></dd>

    <dt>Why do the proposed usage guidelines
    restrict use of the icon to open formats? Won&#8217;t that
    stifle innovation in future applications of web syndication
    formats?</dt>
    <dd>
      <p>
        We don&#8217;t believe so. We believe our proposed approach
        is consistent with encouraging innovation, for the following reasons:
      </p>
      <ul>
        <li>The usage guidelines as proposed do not have a
        restrictive definition of the formats and protocols with which
        the icon may be used. In particular, the guidelines do not
        restrict use of the icon to the present-day RSS or Atom
        formats; in addition, the guidelines do not rule out the use
        of protocols other than HTTP to deliver web feeds.</li>

        <li>The usage guidelines as proposed do not rule out
        techniques like using proprietary media types for content
        items within a web feed published using an open web
        syndication format. Granted, if taken to an extreme such
        practices would lessen the usefulness of having open formats,
        but that&#8217;s a question for the broader community to
        consider in interpreting and evolving the guidelines.</li>

        <li>Finally, the guidelines are not legally binding. If you
        believe that the goal of innovation requires your defining and
        using partly or completely proprietary web syndication formats
        then you&#8217;re free both to do so and to use the icon in
        connection with those formats. However if you&#8217;ve
        previously publicly committed to comply with the guidelines
        then it&#8217;s up to you to justify to the broader community
        why you felt it necessary to act differently.</li>
      </ul>
    </dd>

    <dt>Why do the proposed guidelines require
    that formats used in association with the icon be implementable
    by free and open source software developers?</dt>

    <dd><p>Because the icon was originally created
    for use with free and open source software (FOSS), and because
    FOSS developers form a major part of the community promoting the
    use of web feeds for new and interesting applications. We
    don&#8217;t want there to be web syndication formats for which
    the icon is used but which we can&#8217;t implement (e.g., due
    to patent or other restrictions), and we believe other FOSS
    developers would agree.</p></dd>

    <dt>Why do the proposed guidelines require
    that formats used in association with the icon be developed
    and/or maintained using an open process?</dt>

    <dd><p>Because ultimately it&#8217;s the broad
    community implementing and using web syndication formats that
    creates the value associated with the icon, and we don&#8217;t
    believe it&#8217;s fair to that community to use the icon in
    association with formats over which that community has no
    influence.</p></dd>
  </dl>

  <h2>Interpreting the guidelines</h2>

  <dl class="mzp-u-list-styled">
    <dt>I don&#8217;t like orange; can I use
    the feed icon in a different color?</dt>

    <dd><p>As noted in the guidelines, we
    don&#8217;t intend to discourage alternative uses and
    representations of the icon that conform to the overall spirit
    of the guidelines, including using a different color for the
    icon in cases where you think it&#8217;s appropriate (e.g., to
    match the overall color scheme for your web site).</p>

    <p>However at the same time we believe that the color of the
    icon is an important visual cue for people, and that arbitrarily
    changing the color could disrupt that cue and could confuse
    users. (Just as, for example, changing the standard colors used
    for road signs could confuse drivers.) We therefore recommend
    <em>not</em> changing the color of the icon when it&#8217;s used
    in the context of feed readers and related products and
    services.</p></dd>

    <dt>Can I use the icon in association with
    web feeds that are subscription-only and/or fee-based?</dt>

    <dd<p>Yes. The proposed requirement to use the
    icon in association only with open formats doesn&#8217;t imply
    that the content carried by the format must be made generally
    available.</p></dd>

    <dt>Can I use the icon in association with
    web feeds that include content that might itself be in
    proprietary formats and not necessarily anticipated in the
    format specification (e.g., for podcasting or
    photocasting)?</dt>

    <dd><p>In principle yes, although particular
    instances of such practices may merit individual
    consideration. Open web syndication formats can be designed to
    allow for arbitrary content; for example, the atom:content
    element in Atom can be used for media types other than text and
    (X)HTML. Such open formats can also be designed to be extended
    in various ways, e.g., through Atom&#8217;s Simple Extension and
    Structured Extension elements.</p>

    <p>In some cases the additional media types and extension
    elements may be defined by open formats, and in some cases they
    may not be, In some cases the additional items may need to be
    interpreted by the application processing the feed, and in other
    cases they may not be (e.g., an audio or video media type might
    simply handed off to a third-party media player).</p>

    <p>Ultimately it&#8217;s up to the community to decide how far
    use of the icon should strech to cover
    <q>edge cases</q>involving the use of proprietary formats in certain
    contexts. For example, using the icon in association with a web
    feed including content items in proprietary formats arguably
    would <em>not</em> violate the spirit of the proposed usage
    guidelines. On the other hand, it <em>would</em> arguably
    violate the spirit of the guidelines to use the icon in
    association with a feed format that extended Atom in proprietary
    ways outside those allowed by Atom&#8217;s defined extension
    mechanisms. Other cases might be more ambiguous.</p>
    </dd>

    <dt>What about cases where the entity
    making use of the icon doesn&#8217;t necessarily control the
    format of what&#8217;s being referenced by it (for example, a
    web portal that uses the icon to identify web feeds made
    available by third parties)?</dt>

    <dd><p>In general individuals and organizations
    should be held responsible for their own actions, but
    can&#8217;t necessarily be held responsible for the actions of
    others. If a site states or implies that its web feeds are in
    open web syndication formats but this is not in fact the case,
    the fault lies with the site offering the feeds, not with others
    who might mistakenly or inadvertantly use the feed icon in
    association with the original site&#8217;s feeds.</p></dd>

    <dt>How can I report possible violations of
    the proposed usage guidelines?</dt>

    <dd>
      <p>
        {% with group="https://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.legal",
                list="https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/legal"
         %}
          That&#8217;s really up to you. If you
          think someone&#8217;s misusing the icon you can blog about it,
          post a note in an appropriate online forum (including the public
          <a href="{{ group }}">mozilla.legal newsgroup</a> or the corresponding
          <a href="{{ list }}">mailing list</a>),
          or notify anyone else whom you think might have an interest in
          the matter.
        {% endwith %}
      </p>
    </dd>

    <dt>How will violations of the proposed
    guidelines be punished?</dt>

    <dd><p>As previously discussed the proposed feed
    icon usage guidelines are not legally binding, so no legal
    recourse is available against those who might violate the
    guidelines. However community members are certainly free to take
    other actions, such as directly complaining to the violator
    (e.g., to a corporation&#8217;s senior managers), publicizing
    the violations to other community members, the press, and the
    public at large, boycotting the violator&#8217;s products and
    services, and so on.</p></dd>
  </dl>
{% endblock %}
